Jennifer Aniston is hitting back at comments made by Ohio Sen. JD Vance, now the Republican vice presidential candidate, in which he described certain politicians, including Vice President Kamala Harris as "childless cat ladies."
Aniston, 55, shared on Instagram a clip of Vance from a 2021 interview with then-Fox News host Tucker Carlson, in which Vance said the country was run by "a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they've made, and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable too."
"It's just a basic fact. You look at [Vice President] Kamala Harris, [U.S. Transportation Secretary] Pete Buttigieg, AOC [Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez], the entire future of the Democrats is controlled by people without children," Vance, a father of three, said in the clip. "And how does it make any sense that we've turned our country over to people who don't really have a direct stake in it."
Vance's remarks to Carlson have resurfaced and gone viral in the wake of former President Donald Trump choosing Vance as his 2024 vice presidential running mate, and Harris becoming the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.
On Instagram, Aniston, who does not have any biological children, issued a strong rebuke, writing above a social media post showing Vance's remarks, "I truly can't believe this is coming from a potential VP of the United States."
"All I can say is ...," she continued. "Mr. Vance, I pray that your daughter is fortunate enough to bear children of her own one day. I hope she will not need to turn to IVF as a second option. Because you are trying to take that away from her too."
A spokesperson for Vance said Thursday that his comments had been taken out of context.
"Once again, the leftwing media have twisted Senator Vance's words and spun up a false narrative about his position on the issues. The Democrats are in complete disarray with the most unpopular Vice President in history as their party's nominee. The only childlessness we should be talking about are the childless parents who lost their kids to the murderous thugs and deadly fentanyl coming across Kamala's southern border," Taylor Van Kirk, a spokesperson for Vance, said in a statement.
Aniston has spoken publicly about the struggles she faced while trying to get pregnant in her late 30s and early 40s, telling Allure magazine in 2022 that she went through in-vitro fertilization and was "throwing everything" at trying to become pregnant.
"It was a challenging road for me, the baby-making road," said "The Morning Show" actress. "All the years and years and years of speculation... It was really hard. I was going through IVF, drinking Chinese teas, you name it. I was throwing everything at it."
Despite the difficulties she faced, Aniston said she has "zero regrets" about how her journey turned out.
Jennifer Aniston opens up about exploring IVF, trying to get pregnant in the past"I have zero regrets," she told Allure. "I actually feel a little relief now because there is no more, 'Can I? Maybe. Maybe. Maybe.' I don't have to think about that anymore."
In the interview, Aniston also responded to what she described as the "narrative" that she was "selfish" or just cared about her career when it came to not having kids, saying, "God forbid a woman is successful and doesn't have a child."
Vance's resurfaced remarks have angered some women, like Aniston, who do not have kids of their own, as well as people who are stepparents or who have become parents through nontraditional means, including adoption.
Harris is a stepmom to two children, Cole Emhoff and Ella Emhoff, through her marriage to Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff.
From Marine to politician: An inside look at JD Vance's journey to the RNC stageIn the wake of the resurfaced clip of Vance, Emhoff's ex-wife, Kerstin Emhoff, the biological mother of his two children, defended Harris against what she described as "baseless attacks."
"For over 10 years, since Cole and Ella were teenagers, Kamala has been a co-parent with Doug and I," Kerstin Emhoff said Thursday in a statement. "She is loving, nurturing, fiercely protective, and always present. I love our blended family and am grateful to have her in it."
Ella Emhoff posted on her story on Instagram, "I love my three parents," while highlighting her mom's statement. She asked, "How can you be 'childless' when you have cutie pie kids like Cole and I?"
